Summer's Gift Will Touch Your Heart

A serious and touching British drama, Richard Loncraine's "The Wedding Gift" employs some of England's most talented actors and actresses. Based on a true story, the film stars Julie Walters as Diana Longden, a middle-aged woman dying of a mysterious illness. Walters came into the forefront of the British acting world with "Educating Rita" where she held her own with Michael Caine. She did the same with Jeanne Moreau in the recent release "The Summer House." Her husband, Deric, comes to life with Jim Broadbent assuming the role. Broadbent has established himself as a brilliant character actor, playing the role of the bartender in "The Crying Game" and the puttering father in "Life Is Sweet." With these experienced actors, "The Wedding Gift" can do nothing else but live up to the status of these former films.

This film calls on both of these actors to bring out the full range of emotions. The chemistry Broadbent and Walters display on screen makes it seems as if they have known each other for years. They play the parts like they understand each persons idiosyncracies and pitfalls. Basically, they seem like they have been married for decades. But with the traditional British wit, biting and cynical and cuttingly humorous, their two characters endure the unspeakable.

Diana Longden suffers from an illness which the monolithic British healthcare system is unable to diagnose. The consultants, or doctors, insensitively shuffle her from hospital to hospital, toting her enormous file around which they never allow any-one else to see.

After one solution to operate on her legs failed, Diana was confined to a wheelchair. Her fingers have been put in metal braces to prevent them from cramping up, rendering her helpless. She passes out into a deep sleep at random times, only awaking when Deric slaps her forcefully.

Some consultants point the finger at Deric, saying he is too clingy and possessive of her. She admits that she wants to assert herself, but as we find out, it is only to be in control of ending her life whenever she wants. She has hidden bottles of sleeping pills all over the house. Diana and Deric are finally allowed to see their file when one consultant tells them the reason they have not gotten any help is because the first doctor who ever saw her diagnosed her as suffering from hysteria. Since then all the other doctors have subscribed to the first docotor's diagnosis. Angry, frustrated and humiliated, Diana and Deric give up on the medical community and fight the illness on their own, she waits to die while he hopes to keep her from taking her life.

The film gives keen insight into the state of social medicine in England. Horribly ineffecient and terribly ineffective, the masses of patients seem to be talked at and never listened to. If the Republican party ever used this film for propaganda purposes, Clinton's health plan would be killed instantly.

The movie waivers on the decision which Diana has chosen to make and Deric wants to prevent her from following. She knows that she will never recover. She has come to peace with that fact but has grown too weak to convince him of it also. Her one goal which becomes the title for the movie, is to walk down the aisle at her son's wedding. It is a tangible thing for her to reach for, one last sign of her love and care for her family.

When Diana realizes Deric has met another woman he likes, the blind novelist, Aileen Armitage (Sian Thomas), she encourages him to pursue the relationship. Diana secretly meets with Aileen, they realize they have a great deal in common, and she convinces Aileen to pursue Deric after she dies. A beautiful, loving sacrifice, it proves the unconditional nature of Diana's love for Deric.

Walters and Broadbent give depth and poigniancy to these roles. Supporting them is the hilarious Thora Hird who plays Deric's mother. Slightly schezophrenic, she will call Deric and leave her end of the line unoccupied. When she finally returns to the phone, she conducts a three-way conversation between her son, herself and her cat, whom she refers to as Deric's brother. All the while she is putting sugar on the cat's food. The introduction of her character, and the moments when we see her provide much-needed relief for the weightiness of the rest of the film. Only in the smallest moments do we realize that the Deric's mother actually understands everything that is going on, her nuttiness is her own way of dealing with it.

This is a heavy film, one which will make you reexamine and reprioritize the encounters you have with those you care about in your life. In a summer of thrillers and light romantic comedies, it is refreshing to have something deeply touching and heart-wrenching to round out the emotional pallette.